China Q1 Non-Cash Payments Rise

The amount of non-cash payments in China in the first quarter rose 7.1 percent year on year, according to a central bank report released on Tuesday.

The amount of money involved in non-cash payments,including commercial papers, bank cards and online payment vehicles, was about 888.28 trillion yuan (135.41 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, according to the People's Bank of China.

The use of commercial papers, which are more often used by small and medium-sized enterprises, slumped 27.75 percent to 46.16 trillion yuan in the first quarter.

The number of bank cards continued to spread quickly despite a slowdown in economic growth. Each Chinese owned 4.15 bank cards, including 0.3 credit card, on average at the end of March. A total of 5.66 billion bank cards were in use at the end of the March, up 13.18 percent year on year.

More Chinese are paying online. Banks and financial institutions transacted 657.84 trillion yuan of online payment, up 9.11 percent year on year in the first quarter. Non-bank payment vehicles transacted 18.58 trillion yuan, twice of the amount in the first quarter last year.